Publications

24 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Corporate Social Entrepreneurship

Keywords: by James E. Austin & Ezequiel Reficco

June 2019 (Revised November 2019)
Case

Malaysia: An 'Asian Tiger' Reawakens

By: Richard H. K. Vietor

On May 9, 2018, in an extraordinary upset, Mahathir Mohamad again became Malaysia’s Prime Minister. Najib Razak, who had headed the government since 2009, had been swept up in the 1MDB scandal—perhaps the biggest state-corruption incident in history. Although... View Details

Keywords: Government and Politics; Crime and Corruption; Financial Crisis; Business and Government Relations; Economy; Leading Change; Malaysia

March 2018
Supplement

Sandra Brown Goes Digital (B): The Commitment Decision

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

Sandra Brown, a middle manager at a biotech company who has led internal and external movements for change over the last few years, faces a decision. Whether to continue to work for change at the company or move on to pursue new opportunities elsewhere, where her new... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Stakeholder Engagement; Managing Change; Career Path; Health Care Industry; Quality; Leading Change; Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Personal Development and Career; Decision Choices and Conditions

February 2003 (Revised March 2003)
Case

The Nature Conservancy

By: Allen S. Grossman and Jane Wei-Skillern

Almost immediately upon being appointed CEO of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Steve McCormick undertakes a radical reorganization of this global institution. TNC is the largest and, by most measures, the most successful environment organization in the world, with... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Natural Environment; Nonprofit Organizations; United States

June 1994
Case

Nicolas G. Hayek

By: John J. Gabarro and Dominik E.D. Zehnder

With very few exceptions, established premium producers eventually begin to lose market share and profitability to new, dynamic competitiors. These companies respond by focusing on their old success strategy without regard to changes in the marketplace. This is what... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Alignment; Innovation Leadership; Management Teams; Apparel and Accessories Industry

March 2018
Supplement

Sandra Brown Goes Digital (C): Raising Quality in a Healthcare Company

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

Using digital and social media tools and lessons learned from prior change campaigns as a middle manager in a large biotech company, Sandra Brown continued in a new role in the quality division, engaging staff in a quality movement at the company. She had found a new... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Grassroots Movement; Managing Change; Career Path; Stakeholder Engagement; Engagement; Health Care Industry; Quality; Leading Change; Performance Improvement; Personal Development and Career; Social Media; Health Industry

August 2012 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Milwaukee (A): Making of a World Water Hub

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Starting in 2007 Milwaukee leaders from different areas (large established companies, civic organizations, public sector, academia, and entrepreneurs) negotiated a path for converting the region into a global water hub to address economic and environmental concerns.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Growth Management; Business or Company Management; Leading Change; Wisconsin

2017
Chapter

Paul R. Lawrence: A Career of Rigor, Relevance, and Passion

By: Michael Tushman

Paul R. Lawrence was one of the earliest and most influential figures in the emergence of organizational behavior as a field of study. He was a pioneer in creating a body of work on organization design, leadership, and change in both the private and public sectors.... View Details

Keywords: Organization Design; Contingency Theory; Public And Private Organizations; Rigor And Relevance; Biography; Organizational Design; Leadership; Learning; Leading Change

September 2006 (Revised May 2007)
Case

GE's Jeff Immelt: The Voyage from MBA to CEO

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Andrew N. McLean

GE believes its ability to develop management talent is a core competency that represents a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Traces the development of a 25-year-old MBA named Jeff Immelt, who 18 years later is named as CEO of GE, arguably the biggest and... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources; Leadership Development; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Energy Industry; Technology Industry

June 1995 (Revised June 1995)
Case

Ernst & Young United Kingdom (A)

By: John J. Gabarro and Samantha Graff

Intended to be a robust example of the challenges encountered during the early stages of a large-scale organizational transformation effort in a professional service firm. Describes a massive change program initiated and led by the new managing partner along with a... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Change Management; Leading Change; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Problems and Challenges; United Kingdom; London

Find at Harvard

June 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Responding to the crisis in chemicals in the early 1980's, Allied Chemical (U.S.) and ICI (U.K.) appoint new chairmen to revitalize each company's strategy, culture, and organization. Hennessy, an outsider with a background in managing conglomerates, has strong ideas... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Management Style; Managerial Roles; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy

Find at Harvard

August 2010 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Leaders Who Make a Difference: Joel Klein Brings Accountability to NYC DOE: Day 1

By: Joseph L. Bower and Sonja Ellingson Hout

Joel Klein took over the NYC Department of Education in 2002 and radically transformed the strategy and organization remarkably with improvements in performance. Day 1 of the two case series focuses on the steps taken by Klein over his eight year tenure. Supplementary... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Corporate Strategy; Education; Performance Improvement; Public Administration Industry; Education Industry

March 2021
Case

The U.S. Home Improvement Sector in 2020

By: José Alvarez and David Lane

Provides an overview of the U.S. home improvement sector in 2020, reviewing sources of growth in the decade ending in 2020, with special attention to the impact of COVID-19 on market leaders Home Depot and Lowe’s and the spike in online revenues for both. Also noted... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Trends; Leading Change; Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance; Technology; Construction Industry; United States

Research Summary

Leadership and Leadership Development: An Ontological Approach

This summarizes my research program over the last twelve years (with my co-investigators Werner Erhard, Steve Zaffron, and more recently Kari Granger) in which the objective has been to rigorously distinguish leader and leadership and to create a technology for... View Details

June 2010 (Revised October 2011)
Case

ProPublica

By: Michel Anteby, Philippe Bertreau and Charlotte Newman

Stephen Engelberg, ProPublica's managing editor, entered the organization's newsroom located in lower Manhattan on September 16, 2008. He knew a historical financial debacle was happening at his doorstep, yet none of his journalists were covering that beat. It would... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Leadership; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Organizational Culture; Motivation and Incentives; Journalism and News Industry; Publishing Industry; New York (city, NY)

February 2016
Teaching Note

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Raymond Jetson's MetroMorphosis and the Effort to Transform Baton Rouge

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Tessa Natanay Hamilton and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Building on his successes as a politician and preacher in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Rev. Raymond Jetson sought to empower Baton Rouge citizens to innovate solutions for their community challenges. After stepping down as the head of the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps,... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Health ＆ Wellness; Communities; Community Impact; Farm; Agriculture; Leading Change; Change Management; Social Entrepreneurship; Business and Community Relations; Louisiana

January 2008 (Revised May 2014)
Case

Kazuo Inamori, a Japanese Entrepreneur

By: Anthony J. Mayo, Masako Egawa and Mayuka Yamazaki

The case provides insight into a business leader whose cognizance of contextual forces (social, economic, and political) allowed him to drive significant change in an industry and Japanese society in the second half of the twentieth century. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business History; Leading Change; Management Style; Personal Development and Career; Telecommunications Industry; Japan

March 1992 (Revised April 2000)
Case

Joline Godfrey and the Polaroid Corporation (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Nancy A Kamprath

Describes how Joline Godfrey, an intrapreneur at the Polaroid Corp., introduced and developed a project that could help Polaroid move to a more service- as opposed to product-oriented focus. Also depicts the mentor-protege relationship between Godfrey and Gerald... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Rank and Position; Leading Change; Problems and Challenges; Change; Electronics Industry; Consumer Products Industry

July 1998 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Bank of Ireland (BOI): Internet Strategy

Conor O'Toole, Internet business executive, must consider how to take the Bank of Ireland on-line. The bank, and Ireland, and most of continental Europe, lagedlagged behind the United States in adopting Internet techologytechnology. O'Toole wondered how he should... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Internet; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Republic of Ireland